1812 Anniversary Activities

Last Saturday was very wet, with lots of rain to start the weekend off.  It rained again Saturday night.  Sunday started off cool, and cloudy.  Showers threatened, but we were lucky with only sprinkles here or there.  I packed a picnic lunch and we headed off to the Backus conservation area to check it out.  We were absolutely amazed at how lovely the scenery was in the area.  The conservation area itself was stunningly beautiful.

 We mainly went to check out a reenactment of the War of 1812, being that it's an anniversary year. There have been lots of adverts and information out this year about 1812.   There have been a goodly number of reenactments this year but this was conveniently located and came at a time when I could easily free up a day.  It was held at the Backus Heritage Village, which is a small collection of buildings, including a homestead, some log cabins, a mill and others.

 The Backus Homestead, (c1850) had an interesting collection of artifacts and was set up as the Backus family home might have been.  The kitchen was chock full of kitchenwares, with this lot of tin and iron ware gracing a counter.  There was a lovely stove, cabinets, table and even a real mouse skittering by as we entered!
 

There was a lovely great wheel.  I'd love to have one of these in my living room as they are great fun to play with.   There were numerous old sewing machines and other textile tools.
This crazy quilt was so pretty.  I've not seen many done with the velvet sashing between blocks, but it's very effective.  I also like the scalloped border.  I'd have loved to have had someone move the nightgown so I could have taken a better photo of it, but this was the best I could do.
The heritage buildings were interesting.  The reenactors were  camped among the buildings, sitting on their porches and even camped out in the log cabins.  The forge was going in the blacksmith building and games were set up in the general store.

These boys were just watching and waiting.

There were Red Coats all over the place.  Nearby there was a musket shooting match were the participants had to shoot off the most rounds within a certain time limit.  .


This group was practicing manoeuvres in a small grassy area.  No actually shooting, just marching and raising their muskets.

There were cannon crews.  The cannons make big noises!  There were a lot of different companies there, from both Canada and the U.S.  There were kids playing in period dress and women cooking and gossiping.  I had nice discussion with a lovely lady named Linda about spinning wheels.  It turned out to be one of those small world things since she goes to a weaving group with several friends of mine.

The weather got warmer and the clouds rolled in at times, but the rain held off.  It turned out to be an absolutely lovely day.